Rewards as a Motivational Strategy for Doing Grammar Tasks

Abstract

One of the most controversial issues in behaviour management has been the use of rewards to motivate and teach students to follow classroom rules and routines and to complete academic assignments. The present study aims at investigating the effectiveness of using rewards as a motivational strategy to enhance engagement in doing grammar tasks for pupils enrolling in the second year at secondary schools Ahmed Francis and Boulouika Mohammed Ben Lakhder, Jijel. The ultimate aim is to beat the routine that may be created by the repetitive nature of grammar tasks, and develop pupils’ proficiency in learning grammar. A descriptive exploratory research design is followed by submitting questionnaires to a random sample of 180 pupils at the said schools as well as a teacher questionnaire for their 08 teachers of English. Pupils were requested information about their perspectives, preferences towards the use of rewards along grammar tasks and their effect, if any, on motivation for studying grammar. On the other hand, teachers provided insights about the reward system they usually rely on when teaching grammar to their learners. The results of the investigation have shown that pupils generally do grammar tasks under reward conditions and display an increase in their motivation. This positive outcome reflects the efficacy of integrating extrinsic motivators to respond to learners’ needs and help to suggest some modest pedagogical implications related to incorporate and increase the frequency of using extra grades, private praise, positive written feedback on pupils’ documents and presents to help teachers secure positive outcomes when teaching grammar and giving tasks to their pupils.